Analyst Equates Armenian Genocide to Britney Spears
March 6th, 2008 by
John C.K. Daly is an analyst for the Jamestown Foundation, a right-wing think tank created during the Cold War era. He is also an arrogant denier of the Armenian Genocide.
In a recent talk given in Washington, DC, Daly attempted to present the Armenian Genocide as a “disputed” issue with a questionable basis of support. As evidence of this, he cited an obscure website which presents an 1871 Russian painting as proof of the 1915 Genocide. Not only does using such random internet sites to back an argument (while ignoring the vast documentary and scholarly record) go against elementary academic principles, but it is patently ridiculous to suggest that such anecdotes somehow challenge the overwhelming academic consensus on the murder of 1.5 million innocent human beings.
Daly’s talk contained many other distortions and insulting statements, such as his suggestion that the Armenian Genocide is “the historical equivalent of Britney Spears.” Other innacuracies include his claim that Armenia did not respond to Turkey’s offer to form a historical commission to study the Genocide (Yerevan actually offered to discuss the matter in a bilateral context of normalized relations) or the assertion that Armenian genocide legislation has never passed in Congress (for the facts, see Sec. 2, article 20 and 22 of H.Res.106).
For more on Daly’s junk scholarship and apologetics for Turkey, you can view his report, U.S.-Turkish Relations: A Strategic Relationship Under Stress. For his support of Pan-Turkism as a worthy goal, see his article, “The Rebirth of Pan-Turkism,” in the Eurasia Daily Monitor.
This entry was posted on Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 10:35 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
March 10th, 2008 at 5:20 am
Considering his occupation, the bias is to be expected. I had a look at some of his other articles for The Jamestown Foundation. A few of them, with their hardline pro-Turkish stance, reminded me of the title of a Britney Spears song: “I’m a Slave 4 U.”
March 12th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Daly’s remarks, which he himself admits are flip, represent an offense to all victims of Genocide.
Either he is aware of the horrors of genocide and chooses to callously belittle its victims, or he is, despite his education and professional background, genuinely ignorant of the consequences of such crimes and simply does not realize how his mocking and hateful public statements create an environment that turns a blind eye to genocide.
If you are troubled by his comments, contact his employer, the Jamestown Foundation to share your views:
202-483-8888
pubs@jamestown.org
Aram S. Hamparian
ANCA
anca@anca.org
March 27th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Mr Daly’s analysis has no basis and is inconclusive with little or no research done, combined with his ignorance or lack of education on this subject. Individuals like such are to be ridiculed for their inconsistent comments on such pressing and sensitive subjects which affects millions of people world wide.
I encourage everyone to take some time and contact (either by phone or e-mail) Mr. Daly’s employer (thanks to Aram S. Hamparian for the information) with your thoughts.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Mr Daly’s analysis clearly dipects his ignorance. He might be educated however he has not fully educated himself with the undesputed evidence that cleary indicates that a genocide did occur. His words are a disgrace to the foundation he is employed with. Ignorant, disrespectul people like Mr. Daly should not have their writings published.
May 12th, 2008 at 10:02 am
He was a professor of mine at Kansas State University. Even back then (1993), it was easy to observe his right wing elitism; I could not stand his pompous arrogance or his academic bias, the latter of which was based on an amazing ignorance and lack of facts.
November 2nd, 2008 at 11:43 am
Daly was in fact asked to resign from Kansas State University after an “alleged” long string of incidents involving sexual harassment of students, unprofessional drunken meetings with students at bars and saloons where he would hold court and spout his right-wing views, and so forth. When I asked him to write a letter of recommendation for me during college (before I knew all this about him) he asked, “And what will you do for me in return?” and then pretended it was a joke. A thorough pig, and a failed academic.